Electronic devices, such as, e.g., athletic activity data devices configured to measure one or more physical or physiological parameters during a user's workout, include firmware which control operating features of the device. This firmware may be periodically updated in response to, e.g., a bug being detected in the device's current firmware, new features being added to the device, etc. As such, the device must be placed in an unusable mode while the firmware update is downloaded and subsequently installed on the device. During the update, the device is thus unusable for a lengthy period of time (i.e., a period of time necessary to download and install the update) and a user is unable to control when the firmware update is initiated. Accordingly, a user wishing to use the device to, e.g., measure one or more parameters during a workout, may be frustrated to discover that the device is in an unusable mode and thus must either wait until the device returns to the usable mode (which may be some time) or simply proceed without the use of the device.